Aesop's Fables; a new translation eBook

THE PACK-ASS AND THE WILD ASS

A Wild Ass, who was wandering idly about, one day
came upon a Pack-Ass lying at full length in a sunny
spot and thoroughly enjoying himself. Going up
to him, he said, “What a lucky beast you are!
Your sleek coat shows how well you live: how
I envy you!” Not long after the Wild Ass saw
his acquaintance again, but this time he was carrying
a heavy load, and his driver was following behind
and beating him with a thick stick. “Ah,
my friend,” said the Wild Ass, “I don’t
envy you any more: for I see you pay dear for
your comforts.”

Advantages that are dearly
bought are doubtful blessings.

THE ASS AND HIS MASTERS

A Gardener had an Ass which had a very hard time of
it, what with scanty food, heavy loads, and constant
beating. The Ass therefore begged Jupiter to
take him away from the Gardener and hand him over
to another master. So Jupiter sent Mercury to
the Gardener to bid him sell the Ass to a Potter,
which he did. But the Ass was as discontented
as ever, for he had to work harder than before:
so he begged Jupiter for relief a second time, and
Jupiter very obligingly arranged that he should be
sold to a Tanner. But when the Ass saw what his
new master’s trade was, he cried in despair,
“Why wasn’t I content to serve either
of my former masters, hard as I had to work and badly
as I was treated? for they would have buried me decently,
but now I shall come in the end to the tanning-vat.”

Servants don’t know
a good master till they have served a worse.

THE PACK-ASS, THE WILD ASS, AND THE LION

A Wild Ass saw a Pack-Ass jogging along under a heavy
load, and taunted him with the condition of slavery
in which he lived, in these words: “What
a vile lot is yours compared with mine! I am free
as the air, and never do a stroke of work; and, as
for fodder, I have only to go to the hills and there
I find far more than enough for my needs. But
you! you depend on your master for food, and he makes
you carry heavy loads every day and beats you unmercifully.”
At that moment a Lion appeared on the scene, and made
no attempt to molest the Pack-Ass owing to the presence
of the driver; but he fell upon the Wild Ass, who
had no one to protect him, and without more ado made
a meal of him.

It is no use being your own
master unless you can stand up for
yourself.

THE ANT

Ants were once men and made their living by tilling
the soil. But, not content with the results of
their own work, they were always casting longing eyes
upon the crops and fruits of their neighbours, which
they stole, whenever they got the chance, and added
to their own store. At last their covetousness
made Jupiter so angry that he changed them into Ants.
But, though their forms were changed, their nature
remained the same: and so, to this day, they
go about among the cornfields and gather the fruits
of others’ labour, and store them up for their
own use.